Lawyers disagree on a Supreme Court ruling.

When the Senate President, Ahmad Ibrahim Lawan, was named the All Progressives Congress (APC) senatorial candidate for the Yobe North Senatorial District yesterday, the Supreme Court, in a split decision of three to two, effectively ended Bashir Sheriff Machina’s hopes for office 18 days before the election.

The Federal High Court and the Court of Appeal’s rulings affirming Machina as the candidate after she won the May 28, 2022 primary without any opposition were overturned and set aside by the Supreme Court in the majority verdict.

The Senate President did not take part in the National Assembly primary since, at the time, he was running for president and was vying for the party’s nomination on June 8, 2022.

The Supreme Court invalidated the two prior rulings on the grounds that Machina had used an initiating summons to bring his case before the Federal High Court.

Given the serious claims in his lawsuit against the defendants, Machina should start his case at the Federal High Court with a writ of summons, according to Justice Centus Chima Nweze, who wrote the majority opinion for the Supreme Court.

According to Nweze, Machina’s case featured antagonistic concerns that could not be settled by issuing summonses.